Tuesday we went to El Basurero (the dump) to serve Haitian immigrants that live amongst the trash. The poverty was challenging to witness. The blessings were innumerable. We were thankful for the grace of God in our own lives and the grace of God shown to these people through their local church. Thankful to serve. Thankful for unity of Spirit with believers no matter the situation.
Wednesday we went back to a village we visited 2 years ago. Many of the people had been given water filters on our last trip and told us about their health improvement since receiving these filters. It was a blessing to return to this town and see a lasting impact. Many young men accepted Christ today and the evangelism station (Maggie and Kevin) were touched by the joy that these new Christians expressed. Please pray for the energy of our team as we serve in clinic for the last day. Pray for safe travels as we head back to the states. And finally please pray that each one of us will be able to reach others with our stories of how God has powerfully worked this week in the Dominican Republic. Week 2: Worship
We’re all worshiping something (ourselves, reputation, others) at every moment of every day. We’ve recently been reminded that GOD is the only one worth of our worship (thanks Justin). We were sad to say goodbye to some of our compadres (Dr. Salser, Dr. Conry, Dr. Duggar, Dr. Walker, and Dr. Thomason) but thankful that the rest of our docs made it safely to the DR. This week we will begin our morning worship even earlier—at 6am—and then leave for clinics that are farther away. Our clinic today was an hour and a half bus ride (always interesting with our beloved bus-drivers/ jokesters). We set up outside under a tarp as it had been raining this morning and it was the hottest and most humid day by far. The weather didn’t stop the village from coming to see us, though, as we saw nearly 100 patients. Even with obstacles such as the heat and tight quarters, the Lord continued to bless us by allowing us to see the fruit of the Gospel. One provider station saw 5 patients come to saving faith in Christ, glory to God! Today we gave out water filters to 26 families. Ben and Barrett led the teaching and gospel presentations and the families were excited to receive their free gift from the Americans and their free gift of salvation from God. One story in particular touched my heart: A middle-aged woman and her handicapped son came to the clinic for their rashes and stomach aches. Come to find out, this “dolor del estomago” was more of a hunger pain as they were able to eat maybe one meal per day. As we were talking to them, they were chosen by the pastor to receive a water filter. Now the money they spend buying water can be put into buying food. God met their needs right in front of our eyes. This family prayed to receive Christ with us later that afternoon. He is faithful and he will fulfill his promises to his children. Day 5&6: Resting in God
Friday was a half day of clinic at the same location as Thursday. We had a line of patients waiting for us when we arrived. It was great to see some of the same faces two days in a row. In the afternoon, we ventured to Santo Domingo, the capitol city. We saw the world’s largest cross and the Western hemisphere’s oldest church. We were let loose on the supermercado and all came back with treasures that were much cheaper than asking price. We fed pigeons, ate ice cream, and jammed with a local street band. It was a great change of scenery and much needed break. Saturday was a free day! We slept in and then the majority of us loaded up for a day on Catalina Island. We took some dramamine and a double-decker boat out on the high seas for some snorkeling. We spent the afternoon on the beach just soaking in the island life. We are so thankful for a weekend of relaxation and rejuvenation. Please pray that we would rest well so we can have energy for a full week of clinic ahead of us and that the Lord would be glorified in our Sabbath rest. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 Wednesday was an eventful clinic with many procedures from ranging from lipoma removal to incision and drainage of abscesses (gross). At night we had our first D-groups where we had a sweet time of sharing struggles, experiences and wisdom with each other. Thursday we hosted clinic in a poorer village full of women and children. In this community, most of the families get their water from a local well or rain water. There were many kids sick with amoeba or worms. As a part of the fourth year project and thanks to the generous donations of Briarwood Presbyterian, we were able to pass out 26 water filters that can filter up to 300 gallons of water per day and last for up to 10 years. This is going to make a huge impact in the overall long term health and financial situation of many families. Ashlyn taught the community how to use the filter and then Fowler followed with the gospel presentation—we now think he either missed his calling to be a preacher or should be a bi-vocational minister. There was not a dry eye in the church as Fowler connected the cleansing of the dirty water via the filter to the blood of Christ that cleanses our hearts from all sin and impurity. Amens rang out from the church and our team began to realize the impact we are making. Thank you for being our continued prayer partners as we return to this church tomorrow and continue to share Jesus, the Living Water, with all we meet. “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” John 4:13-14 As usual, we began our day with an early morning of worship and bible study. Today we talked about our God who does immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. He brings us from death to life by His Spirit and is able to reach even the darkest places (Ezekiel 37) As we set off for the day, we accidentally left behind one important member of our group, Dr. Conry. Thankfully she found a translator and was whisked away to catch up with the group. Whew! No man (or woman) left behind. Our day was filled with many stories as we saw around 130 patients in clinic in San Pedro. Some students gave their first shots, removed skin tags, cleaned ears, and did pregnancy tests. We saw patients with diseases ranging from Chikungunya (called "chicken gumbo" by our group) to la gripe (the Dominican catch all phrase for an upper respiratory infection). We met sweet people such as Ezekiel who works as a bread-baker. One team asked jokingly, “Where is our bread?” and he brought us two large bags of hot, fresh-baked bread in the afternoon! One team made a house call to an elderly bedbound gentleman. He was malnourished and cachectic, stricken with ulcers and pain. After treating him and praying for him, you could tell this team had been truly touched by this patient and the sheer privilege of meeting his needs in the name of Jesus. The pediatrics team visited a local school to do well child checks and meet any needs of the children there. Please continue to pray for our group: our health and stamina, wisdom in how to treat our patients, and the boldness to share the gospel as God opens the doors. "For I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me..."
Galatians 2:20 Our entire team arrived safely last night, glory to God. This morning we started our clinic week with a sweet time of worship in the upper room at SCORE. We got to focus on listening to God and seeking His wisdom (Probverbs 2:6). After some french toast and fruit for breakfast, we loaded the buses and headed to a village outside of San Pedro about 30 minutes away. We set up 8 medical provider stations, triage, pharmacy, and evangelism stations in a local church as the community gathered to watch. We prayed that the Lord would use our preparation, supplies, and hearts to touch those that we would treat today. This village in particular was special. On the CMMA trip last year, the group met a young 16 year old girl that found out she was pregnant at the clinic. With her mother present, she vowed to terminate the pregnancy. Some of the students and doctors were able to use the doppler to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. After hearing the baby’s heartbeat and praying with the group, the girl vowed to keep the baby. This afternoon, that same girl came to the clinic but this time with a beautiful baby boy on her hip. She and her mother were proud to show off their newest family member and just came to say hello to the group. It is in moments like these that the Lord shows His sovereignty in all things. Today we saw over 100 patients in clinic. Please continue to pray for our strength in the heat and that God would go before us to awaken hearts by His Holy Spirit. “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21 WE MADE IT!!!... Well most of us.
Our morning started bright and early as we met at the Birmingham airport at 4am. Check-in was a hearty task with such a large group, but thankfully our flight was delayed for 30 minutes so we could all make it without the melodramatic run through the airport. We grabbed breakfast at the Atlanta airport and planned to meet with Dr. Salser and Dr. Walker for the flight from ATL--> Santo Domingo, but their flight got delayed out of Birmingham and they just missed us. They were re-routed through New York and are scheduled to arrive here in the DR around midnight tonight. No rest for the weary! Please be praying for their safe travel to join the rest of the team. After loading all our luggage and packing into 2 wawa's (Dominican buses), we arrived at the SCORE international compound... Home Sweet Home for the next 12 days. We all bonded over queso blanco chips and extreme amounts of sweat before our extended orientation. Tonight we are having further planning sessions and down time before getting our week of clinics started tomorrow. Please be in prayer for the unity of our team, the flow and flexibility of our first clinic tomorrow, and the patients we will come in contact with this week. May our anthem be His glory and renown among all peoples. "mas El menos yo"... More of Him and less of me. John 3:30 |
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